Dissertation and thesis binding

Details of our binding options and prices, and how to place your order.

We can bind your dissertation or thesis for you in a variety of ways. You will first need to check which type of binding is required for your type of submission – for example, an undergraduate dissertation may need to be bound differently to a postgraduate thesis.

Your academic regulations will determine this, and your tutor or college office should be able to advise you. We are unable to determine this at PrintWorks.

Our PrintWorks Shop, based in Room 1N22 Frenchay Campus, can provide fast turnaround for your digicoil and tape bound dissertations. We can print and bind or you can provide printed copy and we can just bind for you.

Binding options

Digicoil binding

The digicoil is a continuous black plastic spiral which is inserted down the left hand side of the document.
We can bind a maximum of 275 sheets of A4 80gsm paper in a document.
If your document is larger than 275 sheets we can bind in two or more volumes (each volume is costed as one book).

Tape binding

This type of binding has a black strip down the left hand side which thermally binds the document.
We can bind a maximum of 350 sheets of A4 80gsm paper.
If your document is larger than 350 sheets we can bind in two or more volumes (each volume is costed as one book).

Hardback binding

This can be ordered via the PrintWorks Shop or by email (see details below). There will be at least a one-day turnaround on this type of binding. Please ask for timescales at the time of ordering.

Available in red or black covers.
Embossed with gold lettering on the front and on the spine (printing on the spine may not be possible if your document is very small).
We can bind a maximum of 270 sheets of A4 80gsm paper. If your document is larger than 270 sheets we can offer binding in two or more volumes per document in the regular and usual 24-hour turnaround time. Each volume is costed as one book.
If your document is larger than this and needs to be bound in one volume we may still be able to help but the turnaround time will need to be extended.

Quotes, costs and ordering

For print quotes

Complete an enquiry form.
Email the completed form to printing@uwe.ac.uk.

For orders

Complete an enquiry form.
Complete a cover template form.
Email the completed forms to printing@uwe.ac.uk.

Costs for hard-back binding

The following costs are for the binding only:

One copy = £47.50
Additional copies = £26.50 each

For any additional amounts please ask for details. We can also print your document for you at an extra charge. Please complete the enquiry form above and we can provide you with an estimate. Remember, any colour on a page, even a full stop, will count as a colour print.

Costs for soft dissertation binding

Dissertation printing and binding (Digicoil or tape bind with black card to the rear of the document and a plastic-free clear cover to the front):

First copy = £19.50
Any further copies of the same document = £9.75 per copy

Dissertation binding only (Digicoil or tape bind with black card to the rear of the document and a plastic-free clear cover to the front).

Digicoil binding:

Small (up to 12mm) = £3.50 per copy
Medium (14mm–18mm) = £4.50 per copy
Large (20mm–30mm) = £8.00 per copy
Extra large (32mm and over) = £10.25 per copy

Tape binding = £3.00 per copy

See further details of the PrintsWorks Shop services.

Submitting your document

Should you require us to print your document as well as bind there are a few guidelines that we ask that you please follow:

We would prefer to receive a PDF of the document with fonts embedded (see below) as this ensures we print what you are seeing on the screen.
Please check the PDF before sending to us.
If you do not send a PDF to us, there may be additional file conversion costs.

How to embed fonts in Word and save as PDF

File
Options
Save
Tick "Embed Fonts in the file"
Un-tick "Embed only the characters used in the document"
OK
File
Save As
Choose your location to save the file
Save as type: PDF
Save

Turnaround times

We can often turn your binding enquiry around in an hour or so in our PrintWorks Shop (digicoil or tape binding only) but during busy hand in times the times may be longer.

Please contact the shop at printing@uwe.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)117 32 84670 to check if we can meet your deadline.

For Hard Binding we will need at least a working day but it may be best to allow two to three days if possible.

Hand in times – printing

Remember to allow extra time for printing.

During student hand in the Printworks Shop gets really busy and there have been queues in the past. Our turnaround times may be longer than normal (up to two days).

We know you are all working to deadlines and we will be doing our very best to meet these for you but please allow plenty of time for printing and/or binding, don’t leave it until the last minute if at all possible to avoid disappointment.